by Parker, Ali
“Are we going to…?” My breathing was speeding up again, another ache starting to build between my legs.
When Rylen shook his head and pulled me close, I nearly began to cry. “No, not right now. It’ll be too painful. If not now, then tomorrow. Let’s get some sleep. We have all the time in the world to do it again, Olive. We’re definitely doing it again. Soon.”
His words soothed me, extinguishing the urgency burning within me and bringing back the sleepiness I’d felt earlier. Besides, now that I was calming again, I could feel how tender my flesh was. Doing it again immediately was not a good idea.
So instead of pushing him or arguing, I laid my head back on his chest and fell asleep. I really liked that I could do that, and that he hadn’t just slept with me and then made me leave.
Chapter 15
Rylen
When I woke up, Olive was still sleeping on my chest. Her long, soft hair was spread out down her back and over my arm. The dark strands were a sharp contrast to my lightly tanned skin. I didn’t get the opportunity to get out much, so I wasn’t as golden brown as most of the locals tended to be.
Looking like a creeper and staring at her while she was sleeping wasn’t really on my to-do list for the day, but for a few long minutes, I couldn’t tear my gaze away from her. She was fucking gorgeous, and someone somewhere would have to forgive me for saying it, but lying naked in my bed, she was the most beautiful, sexiest woman on the planet.
I had seen the self-doubt in her eyes last night, noticed the wavering of her confidence as soon as her clothes were off. She’d even fucking trembled, and not the good kind of trembling.
I didn’t know what was wrong with the men in New York, or even the other men she’d encountered here in Florida, but mankind had some serious explaining to do if that was the way the woman felt about herself.
Men should have been telling her how irresistibly fucking beautiful she was from the first time she had met one of us. Yet it didn’t seem like she’d ever been told or made to feel like she was.
If I had achieved anything last night, I hoped it would be that I’d changed that. That I’d made it crystal fucking clear how incredibly attractive I found her and how gorgeous I thought she was.
For the rest of however much time we ended up spending together, because there was definitely going to be at least one repeat performance of last night, I would make it my mission to prove it to her.
Christ. There had to be a repeat performance of last night. A few, if I got really lucky. I already had gotten lucky, of course, that she’d chosen me to be the one. Unbelievably fucking lucky, honored really.
Being a selfish bastard, though, I was hoping I would get even luckier. There was no way one time was enough, no way I’d ever be able to get over the way she felt sheathed around my cock without getting to feel it again.
I was no virgin, no doubt about it, but fuck … being inside her was something else entirely. Just thinking about it was getting me hard enough to cut glass, so I figured I’d better get a move on out of bed.
My shift started in a little under two hours and if I got started on her now, I was going to be late. There was also the fact that I was pretty sure she was going to be a little sensitive this morning, and the last thing I wanted to do was to hurt her.
Carefully snaking my arm away from her, I gently lifted her head onto a pillow and rolled soundlessly out of bed. Heading to the bathroom, I took a quick shower and wished every second that she would come and join me.
Thankfully for my immaculate clocking-in record at work, she didn’t. Although I would have sacrificed that record for her with a smile on my face if the whole hurting her thing wasn’t an issue.
Olive was still sleeping soundly when I came out of the shower and got dressed for work, the most adorable little smile on her lips. I wondered what she was dreaming about as I buttoned up my shirt and grabbed a pair of socks. An irrational, stupidly optimistic part of me hoped it was me.
Sighing internally, I reminded myself to stop being a sap and go downstairs to make the girl breakfast. We’d never gotten around to dinner, and I was feeling the effects of it myself. Couldn’t starve the girl after I was the one who fed on her instead of feeding her like I was supposed to have done.
Oh, for crying in a fucking bucket. I never should have thought about feeding on her either. Though I’d slept and brushed my teeth, I remembered how sweet she tasted so vividly that it was like her nectar was still on my tongue.
Making breakfast while constantly having to think a damn boner away was no easy feat, but I eventually managed a fruit salad with some seeded bread, yogurt, and pancakes. They were ready-made, though, and I only had to heat them up.
While I was setting everything out on the island, I heard a rustle at the entrance to the kitchen and looked up. Olive was standing there watching me, a shy smile on her lips and wearing, fuck me, the shirt I had worn the day before … and nothing else.
A low, rumbling growl came out of me before I could stop it. “Are you trying to kill me? I can see the headlines now: heart surgeon killed by heart attack because of his libido.”
She giggled, entering the kitchen to walk to me and put her hands on the side of my neck. “I’d rather have you alive, thanks, so just tell me what I can do about that libido to keep it from giving you a heart attack.”
Tipping my head to the side, I narrowed my eyes and pretended to think. At the same time, I grabbed her hips and hauled her against me, crushing my lips down on hers. It became a full-blown make out session in no time, with her hands pawing at my belt and mine exploring under my shirt she had on.
Just before it got out of hand, I let out a sound of frustration and pulled away. “I have to get to work after breakfast, but tell me we’re just hitting pause for now. That should save me the heart attack.”
“We’re just hitting pause for now.” She smirked. I hadn’t even realized her lips knew how to do that, but evidently, I was wrong. “If you’re serious about it only being pause and not being done with me yet, I’m going to ask that you not hit play with anyone else in the meantime.”
I slammed my hand into my chest, pretending to be mortally wounded. “I wouldn’t dream of it. Same goes for you.”
She nodded, sitting down and picking up one of the plates I’d set out. “This looks amazing, thank you. I’m famished.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t get around to feeding you last night.” The corners of my mouth twitched into a sheepish smile. “I hope this makes up for it.”
“It does.” She scooped some fruit into a bowl, lathered it in yogurt, and added some pancakes to her plate. “Besides, it wasn’t really your fault that we didn’t have dinner.”
“Even so, it feels like I should have fed you first.” I shrugged, winking before I went to the fridge to get some orange juice out. “Speaking of which, why did you want to do it so bad suddenly? I would have waited, so I hope that wasn’t it.”
“It wasn’t that.” She took a bite of her fruit, chewing as she narrowed her eyes in thought. “It felt like a step I had to take to becoming a new woman, which is what I’m trying to do. I got a new job this week, I’m living alone now, and my friends have moved on. It felt like I should get on with life too.”
“A new job?” I poured some juice into a glass, handing it over to her. I didn’t know what to say about having been part of plan “new woman,” but I certainly couldn’t complain about the part she’d chosen me for. “When do you start?”
Light sparked in her eyes as she sipped her juice, pulling the glass away from her lips so fast to answer my questions that a drop splashed out and landed on her chin. She swiped it away with the back of her hand, but she was already talking.
“I start on Monday.”
I grinned, but my forehead creased. “Wow, that’s soon. Have you had an interview and given your notice already?”
Shaking her head, she sighed. “I’ve spoken to my new boss on the phone, but he said he doesn’t need an interv
iew. He’s Jenna’s uncle, and apparently, he trusts her judgment. As for my notice, I, um, I quit yesterday.”
This time my eyebrows climbed up all the way and I let out a whistle. “Wow, you really are a new woman.”
Olive’s shoulders rolled back, a proud smile beaming up at me. “I am. I never thought I would just quit, but I did.”
Slowly, as if she’d realized something unpleasant, the smile started to slip. “It’s only Wednesday. What am I supposed to do until I start on Monday?”
“Relax?” I suggested, but she pulled a face that told me she didn’t approve of that idea. “Okay, scratch that.”
Licking my lips, an idea formed in my brain. “I won’t be much help today, because I have a surgery to get to. I’m off this weekend, though, if you would like to spend some time with me?”
Olive went slack-jawed, her gaze questioning but surprised. “I would like that. Are you sure?”
I nodded, feeling the watch on my wrist vibrate with an alert. I glanced down and cursed under my breath. “Absolutely, but unfortunately, I have to go. Take your time finishing up. I’ll leave the key for you. There’s a lockbox for it outside that I use whenever I get cleaners or gardening services in if work gets too crazy. You can leave the keys in there.”
She frowned. “Seriously? You’re trusting me alone in your house?”
Shrugging, I walked over to drop a kiss on her lips and frame her face in my hands. “I am. If you decide to snoop, I should warn you that you’re probably going to be disappointed. I don’t have much to hide.”
Nothing she would find evidence of in my house, anyway. I would have to tell her about my deep, dark past eventually, I supposed, but we were far away from that point.
Olive smiled, snaking her hands into my hair and holding me there for a deeper kiss. I stepped between her legs, spreading them wider with my own. Our tongues stroked and danced, the kiss quickly becoming something much more. Again. Fuck.
Before it could get out of hand, I felt my wrist vibrate with my final alarm—the one that I had set to let me know the very last minute I could leave the house—and slowly ended the kiss, whispering against her lips, “As much as I hate to, and I really, really do, I have to get going. I’ll see you this weekend?”
She nodded, letting her forehead rest against mine for a second before pulling back. “Okay. Be a good surgeon today.”
I laughed, inclining my head. “Always.”
All the way to the hospital, I couldn’t get Olive out of my head. By the time I arrived, I had a stupid grin on my face that I couldn’t seem to wipe off, and Edgar noticed it almost immediately after I walked into preop.
“You’re in a good mood,” he commented, twisting at his waist to face me while still scrubbing his hands. “What gives? Did you get some last night or something?”
I didn’t say anything, studiously ignoring him and walking to the basin beside his. From the corner of my eye, I saw his widen. “Seriously? You did? With who?”
Lifting an eyebrow, I deliberately looked around the room. “This is neither the time nor the place to be talking about this.”
He huffed out a sigh but shrugged and got back to cleaning up. “Fine, but you’re telling me all about it later. I’m expecting full and lurid details, my man.”
“Your expectations are going to be dashed.” I turned my face to his and gave a pointed look over his shoulder at the nurse who had just walked in. “Get your head in the game, Ed. We’re here to operate, let’s talk about that, shall we?”
He nodded, firing off a series of standard questions that we’d have to go through again once we entered the OR, but he knew I liked going through the details with him before, anyway. The process dragged on and on through the day, though, feeling at least triple as long as it usually did.
I was there and ready, participating in the preop procedures and doing my part. In the back of my mind, though, I kept wondering how long it was going to take. I was hoping it would go fast, and that the rest of the day would go fast so I could see Olive again.
Fuck. Why am I thinking like this? My job came first, it had to. I repeated the advice I had given to Edgar earlier silently to myself. Get your head in the game, Rylen. This isn’t the time or the place to be thinking about this.
Chapter 16
Olive
Being alone at the house with nowhere to go and nothing to do was novel for me. It wasn’t a feeling I particularly liked. I had only five days to kill before I started my new job, but I felt like I was staring down the barrel of five days of nothing.
Sitting around being idle wasn’t my thing. I liked to be busy, to stay busy. I actually liked going to work and feeling like I was productive. I was one of those freaks who actually enjoyed Monday mornings and felt a little listless when my last shift for the week ended.
It was a beautiful day outside. The sky was as blue as a robin’s egg without a cloud in sight. There was no breeze, so it was bound to be a scorcher of a day. My fingers tightened around the wraparound railing on my balcony, my eyes closing as I inhaled a deep breath of fresh ocean air.
I felt like I was all dressed up with no place to go. It sucked.
The sound of my phone ringing from the couch behind me made me open my eyes. I’d vacated the couch only a minute ago to come stand against the railing. I turned and reached over to grab it, surprised to see Jenna’s name on the screen.
“Hey, girl,” she said in greeting once I’d answered. I could practically hear the smile in her voice. “I have the day off and I know you do too. I’m feeling some serious girl beach time, are you in?”
I pursed my lips, pulling them from side to side as I thought about it. “Sure, why not? I was actually just wondering what I was going to do with myself today.”
“Awesome.” She let out a loud whoop, making me wonder where she was. Although it probably didn’t matter. Jenna didn’t seem like the type to care about whooping anywhere. She probably even whooped in her office. “Do you have any beach preferences? I have a few, but since you’re the newbie, I’ll let you pick.”
My eyes narrowed as I thought. There was a perfectly good beach right here, my very own backyard. It would certainly be most convenient, since the house was here for refreshments and facilities.
There was no doubt it was the practical choice, but that was what the old Olive would have argued. New Olive wanted to get out there and explore a bit. Heidi and Valerie had both mentioned going to other beautiful beaches with their significant others. I hadn’t been to many, except this one and the one where I used to work.
“You know what, it was your suggestion. How about you pick? Just tell me where to meet you.”
After pausing for no more than five seconds, she had decided and told me she’d send me the location for her beach of choice. We agreed to meet in an hour, and I hung up the phone.
Jenna sent me the location just after we ended the call and I clicked on it, seeing that it would take me just over half an hour to get there from my house. That means I have to get packed up and ready to go. Yay for not having to sit around today!
I hurried inside and jogged up the stairs to my bedroom, changing into shorts and a T-shirt over my bikini. My backpack already had the essentials in it, but I added a fresh towel and filled my bottle with ice-cold water from the fridge.
After throwing my hair into a ponytail and making sure I still had a ball cap in my pack, I set off to my car. Jenna was already at the beach when I arrived, waving me over from where she was sitting on a monster-sized towel. She was lathering sunscreen onto her arms, grinning at me from behind a pair of silver-tinted sunglasses.
“I’m so glad you could come,” she said when I walked up, pointing to the spot on the sand beside her. “Spread out your towel. I’ll get your back if you do mine.”
“Thanks. I always miss a spot when I try to do it myself.”
She giggled, lifting her sunglasses to her forehead to wink at me before dropping them down again. “It is so much ha
rder to find the spot by yourself, isn’t it? It’s just not the same.”
My eyes grew wide behind my own sunglasses and a peal of nervous laughter escaped. “That wasn’t what I meant.”
“It doesn’t make it any less true.” She wiggled her nose, her back straightening as if she’d remembered something. “Oh, wait. Right. I forgot. You haven’t, um, you’re a virgin. Although, I guess you could have done other stuff. You know what? Forget I said anything. It was just a joke anyway.”
“I know,” I said, trying to bite back the words that were on the tip of my tongue. Jenna and I were becoming good friends, and I wanted to tell her about last night. I wanted to talk to somebody about what had happened.
I didn’t want to gossip or share intimate details, I just wanted to talk. To tell someone that I had finally done it. “But actually, I’m not anymore. A—”
My teeth sank into my lip as I stopped myself from talking. This was a really big deal for me. Jenna didn’t know me that well and I didn’t even know if she would want to know about this.
I forced a smile, holding my hand out for her sunscreen. “Here, I’ll get your back.”
Jenna swatted my hand away, turning on her towel to face me and crossing her legs. “No, uh-uh. You’re not what, anymore? A virgin?”
A flush made its way to my cheeks, one that clearly had nothing to do with the heat of the day. She noticed immediately, letting out a little squeal that had a few people in the vicinity looking at us.
“What? When? Who? Tell me everything.”
She’d dropped the sunscreen on the sand when she swatted my hand away. I picked it up and reached into my backpack for a package of paper towels I kept in there, motioning for her to turn around. “You’re going to burn to a crisp. We need to get this on before that happens.”